The Blues were fairly quiet today. They re-signed Alexander Steen to a four year deal worth $12 million total. The 24 year old winger was tied for the team lead in goals with 24. Steen wanted to stay put in St. Louis, and frankly, St. Louis is glad to have him hang around, even though $3 million a season might be a little bit of an overpayment.

On the flip side, goaltenders are getting underpaid (unless you’re Michael Leighton). Chris Mason is now the Thrashers’ new 1-A goaltender, a position that he’s more than used to. He basically served that role in both Nashville and St. Louis, though here in Atlanta he’ll have to compete with a kid who has talent. Masonry signed a two year deal with the Thrashers ($1.6 million and $2.1 million) for less than he was negotiating with the Blues for. Look for Mason to be our starting goalie next year to light a fire under Pavelec’s ass. Mason does have a habit of letting in one wonky goal a game, and the team might need to battle to maintain 3rd period leads (though not all of that was Mason by a long shot – Andy Murray’s coaching didn’t help). But, once you get past that, Mason’s a solid goaltender who put up great stats last year on a non-playoff Blues team, and was an absolute beast of a workhorse both last season and the year before that – especially after Manny Legace was waived. He wasn’t pulled once last season, which is more than can be said for either of our goalies last year.

Of course, this means the end of Hedberg in Atlanta – Moose is now Martin Brodeur’s backup in New Jersey for a $1.5 million contract. Considering it’s backing up Brodeur, that boils down to $500,000 a game. Congrats though on getting a NTC, Hedberg, and best of luck when you come to ATL, play against us, and probably shut us out.

The Thrashers also sent a 4th round pick in the 2011 draft and Ivan Vishnevskiy to Chicago for Andrew Ladd. Ladd averaged just under a half point a game last season and was nearly a 40 point player. He spent a lot of time on the Hawks’ 3rd line, but still averaged significant numbers a night. We’ve now acquired Ladd, Byfuglien, Sopel, and Eager. Say hello to your Atlanta Thrash-Hawks (copywright Chris Gift).